How loud is your valve train?

 

It's not as quite as a bone stock hyd set-up, but completely liveable. any solid lifter set-up will have some minor "mechanical" noise associated with it since there is in essence "slop" when valve lash is set.

For the extra power you get, completely worth it. When the hoods shut and engine is running I've never heard any solid lift cam weather flat tappet or roller in the cockpit or standing beside the car. Only when the hood is up can you hear the valve train working.

Just be sure to buy a stud girdle not matter which route you go, kinda of a must have when you start getting into bigger grinds.

 

IHI, I noticed you have solid rollers. How long did you have them? How much maintenance would you say they are.

I was thinking of going with solid rollers but some people said that needle bearings in those things usually self-destruct within 5-7k miles because of oiling problems.

what's your redline with that engine?

 

There are street SR grinds and there are race SR grinds.
The street grinds typically use lighter spring pressure and are designed for longevity, with ramps and acceleration rates that are easier on the valvetrain than race pieces.
If you take a look at the Comp catalog you'll see what I'm saying. Most of the guys running SR cams on the street are using the street grinds and the parts that are compatable with them, and without exception they're overjoyed with the service and the performance improvements.
I'm in the middle of an SR project with still about another $600 to invest into valvetrain parts. If you go to a SR, expect to upgrade every piece of your valvetrain if you're going to have a reliable system that you can be completely confident in.
Unfortunately I can't tell you more than that right now, but I'm looking forward to that day when I'm finished buying parts and I finally turn the key.

 

This is going on my second year, ran the entire '04 season with thousands of street miles in between. I check valve lashy every week because I have to to stay competative in my class. This year I've ran 11 tanks of fuel through the car on the street and been to the track 3 times, checked lash the other day (first time since last year) and it was right where it needed to be as always.

Depending on how aggressive a cam you get, yes you should upgrade rollers every year or at least pull them to inspect. Racers have been having success running the Crower severe duty solid roller lifters, but at $700/set it was past my budget. I run the Lunati lifters with horizontal spring bar (so you can change cam in car) my cam is a peanut cam in the world of solid rollers and valve springs are only 220lbs at 1.900 and 570lbs at 1.250 I am very impressed with Bullet Cams, I'm making a ton of power with a very tame and streetable set-up that does'nt require a bunch of maintenance. Your not going to get 100,000 miles out of this set-up, but it was'nt build for that purpose wither.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by IHI
checked lash the other day (first time since last year) and it was right where it needed to be as always.

Same thing here. After I first installed my new engine, I was periodically checking the lash. My car is only driven in the summer, and raced several times in the summer, and my lash is always "right on". So now I check the valves once a year.

I agree with the stud girdle advice. I installed the Moroso quick adjust double bar girdle, and it will "hold" the lash adjustments longer.

As for the noise, its definatley noisier than the hyd-roller setup, but its not that bad...besides, its the type of noise I dont mind coming from my engine.

Also, the installation of a permanent mounted under hood starter switch is a must. I havent installed mine as of yet, but when I do, I wont have to rely on a person to bump the starter.

 

Ok just checking. I bought a stud girdle a while ago since my friend said it was a must. Here is a pic of my motor. Are those the same lunati lifters that you use IHI?

 

2

 

Same rockers and lifters now if your runing the Comp .080 pushrods and BTE stud girdle you'd have my set-up!

Under hood ford solenoid is the only way to fly, make hooking up the bump switch soo much easier as well as other wires needing battery positive also.

You'll have to set your valves, install the girdle and then recheck them since it will true everything up and loosen some settings and tighten some other up or wont affect them at all, but you must double check them to be sure. Usually cold you set them about .003 LOOSER than called for since when the motor warms up it will expand that much and you should be right on the money or pretty darn close. So if lash is supposed to be .026, set the lash right now cold at .029

Regardless, once you shut the motor down after inital firing and while everything is still hot, go back through them all one cylinder at a time since your using a girdle that will allow that and check lash one last time since they will move somewhat. It may take a few heat/run cycles before everything starts to seat and then lash will rarley be a problem. You can check them to reassure yourself everythings in order once a month or every couple months but I know alot of guys that run it until they hear some tell tale ticking letting them know it's time to readjust.

 

How high do you/could you wind that setup IHI ??

 

Awesome thanks for the tips. This setup sounds so good. I already set the valves cold with my friend who has picked out the parts and has pretty much assembled this motor. My cam is slightly bigger than yours in duration with a 11:1 CR. We reset the valves last week after it warmed up but didn't have time to really hear it. What do you mean by under the hood celenoid and bump switch? Here is a short vid of it with open headers.

Click here

 

I'm running a Comp XE Solid Roller. IMO the lifter noise is very faint. I am also running a set of GM cast aluminum valve covers that may deaden some of the sound. A couple things I found:
1. Used the Comp recommended 977-16 springs and had to replace them after 1 year. I have since gone to a Crower spring.
2. Stud girdle a must! I like the Comp girdle for the simple fact that the 4 outside poly locks have a snap ring that the girdle rests on.
3. With the Comp XE SR, you should not run springs with more that 450#'s open. It WILL wear the lobes.
4. I adjust valves once a season(only drive 2-3000 miles/year) and set them cold at .001 under spec.
5. A solid roller motor feels like it's on nitrous above 5500 rpm. As said in a previous post, you cannot beat the performance of a solid roller motor!

www.geocities.com/dzperf

 

I have taken it to 7K but only found .04 spinning it that high so I race and shift at 6K and actually had my fastest pass shifting at 6K. Lower revs meand longer engine life which is ALWAYS a plus!!!

fbody83, typical everyday ford solenoid found on all the ford products of ole, they were smart and had the solenoid moounted away from the heat and off the starter like how chevies are. You mount the solenoid where ever you want, battery wire bolts to one side, there a post on the front for your ignition wire and another post on the other side that goes straight to your starters big batt post. Then all you do is run a jumper wire on your starter from the big battery post to the solenoid since your new solenoid is already mounted on firewall or where ever you decide to install it.

the bump start deal is just a push button on a cord that hooks to the hot side of the solenoid and the ignition spot on the solenoid. This way when you press the button it jumps and makes the motor spin over-VERY handy and no more heat soak with starter.